The Claws of Redemption
by MLP Mike
Summary: Her father's past comes back to haunt Felicia Hardy as she tries to make her way in this unfamiliar world. This story is set in the same universe as my other FanFiction, "The Mask of Responsibility".


There was something about the night that got Felicia excited. The mystery of what lurked in the shadows or the stillness of the air. It was under the moonlight that Felicia felt alive. She was perched on a rooftop across the street from her current target, namely an uptown jewelry store, one of those fancy two story ones with large glass windows.

_Childs play. _She smirked.

She reached a gloved hand down to her grappling hook, which hung at her belt. She unclipped it and brought it, aiming it towards the jewelry store. With a squeeze of the trigger, a hiss of compressed air fired the sharp projectile into the air and imbedding it in the far wall, leaving a thin cable in its wake.

Like a skilled gymnast, The Black Cat lightly stepped her way across the wire to hop lightly onto a ledge beneath one of the windows. Sharp claws hidden within each hand protruded and she cut a circle around two feet wide in the glass. Delicately she tipped the disk of glass towards her and removed it from the hole, setting it on the ledge to lean against the building.

_No alarms, no witnesses, no problem_

She dove forward though the hole, rolling to a stop inside the store. Surrounding her were dozens of glass cases, displaying glittering and expensive jewels and trinkets. The Black Cat moved about the room, careful not to trigger any pressure plates hidden under the carpet. She cut several more holes in several more pieces of glass, retrieving countless necklaces, rings and gems from their resting places.

The pouch at her belt was starting to become heavy and she decided it was time to exit. The owners would find the store had been robbed in the morning, but by that time Felicia would have sold her spoils to her black market clients.

The Black Cat looked one last time around the room, making sure there wasn't anything else worth her taking, before turning towards her exit. She found the hole had been sealed closed… by spider webs.

_Oh great, just what I needed._

Two large white eyes, glared at her from their position on the wall and she turned to face them.

"You know Felicia, if you wanted to hang out with me you should have just called." Spider-Man said, dropping down onto the floor.

The Black Cat put on her best smile, trying to hide the fact that he had surprised her.

"You know me spider. I'm all about putting on a show." She teased and spun quickly throwing a knife from her belt towards Spider-Man.

He flipped over it easily and darted towards her, she tried to avoid him but he grabbed her and pinned her against a wall.

"Yeah, calling would be too subtle for you huh?"

The Black Cat pretended to struggle in his grip, in reality reaching to her wrist and tapping a button on the sleeve of her suit.

"If I'm being honest I missed you," She said sweetly, leaning forward and brushing her lips against the fabric covering his cheek. "Being with you makes everything feel… brighter."

Suddenly her orange goggles turned bright white as they flashed like a camera, blinding Spider-Man momentarily. It was enough for Felicia to tug free and deliver a swift kick to his gut. She slashed forward with her claws, but he ducked away from her and fired a glob of webbing that narrowly missed her head.

_This asshole is always getting in my way. Doesn't he have anything else to do besides bother me?_

She rolled, avoiding more webbing and crouched behind a desk.

_He's usually a better shot with that stuff. He must be still having trouble seeing. It's now or never._

The Black Cat poked her head above the desk just enough to sling another knife his direction. Spider-Man actually caught it before it impacted his chest.

_Damn spider-sense, that shit is so cheap._

She turned and sprinted towards the nearest window. Covering her head with her arms she leapt at it, crashing through and falling through the air. Instantly an alarm started to blare, disturbing the peaceful night. Felicia fell to the ground below and rolled to prevent herself from taking damage from the drop. She knew that he would be quick on her heels and dropped one of her smoke bombs at her feet, quickly disappearing in a puff of grey dust.

When Spider-Man leapt lightly down to the street, the Black Cat was already gone.

* * *

The widow to her apartment slid open silently and Felicia Hardy slipped inside. It was still late in the night so she moved silently to her bedroom, careful as not to disturb her roommate. When she was safely in her room, Felicia pulled off her wig and goggles, running her fingers through her short dark hair.

_That was a close call, closer than usual at least. Maybe I'm getting a little careless._

The rest of her suit was removed and, along with her treasure, was stored in a small safe that fit under her bed. She collapsed onto the sheets and gazed at her alarm clock.

_Only two hours until I have to get ready for class, is it even worth going to sleep?_

She got up off her bed and rifled through her drawers pulling on some shorts and a t shirt, before padding out of her room and down the hall to the kitchen. She sat heavily in a chair at the table and pulled a textbook toward her.

She was midway through her freshman year at ESU. Currently she was studying Criminal Law, but it was actually rather boring and it wouldn't be a surprise if she dropped the class by next semester. With her night job taking up a good portion of her time, studying was a challenge. There was a test in the morning though, so tonight she thought it was best to squeeze in some time.

Two hours later, Liz Allen found her roommate slumped over her book, fast asleep. Liz prodded Felicia firmly in the side.

"Hey wake up sleeping beauty," Liz said. "Don't you have a test today?"

Felicia groaned loudly and lifted up her head to look at the clock.

"I'm going to be late!" She gasped, jumping up from the table and sprinting to her room.

Liz sighed and went to the counter to start making herself breakfast. Liz didn't mind being Felicia's roommate. After high school Liz found herself living in a dorm on campus with a few friends. They were all promptly removed from the room after a night of raucous partying that resulted in setting fire to their dorm. All the girls went their own way after that, leaving Liz to bump into Felicia. They hadn't talked much in high school, Liz being the popular girl and Felicia being the quiet one. But they've actually become good friends in the time that they lived together.

Liz liked Felicia because she wasn't the usual airhead Liz hung out with and Felicia simply liked Liz because she didn't ask too many questions. So far it was the perfect setup for both of them.

Felicia came stumbling back down the hall, pulling on one of her shoes.

"Aren't you going to take a shower?" Liz asked.

"No time, I got to go like now." Felicia stuffed her textbook in her bag and slung It over her shoulder.

"Wait," Liz grabbed a napkin a stepped to Felicia, rubbing the other girl's cheek. "You have some dried drool on your face."

"Ugh." Felicia took the napkin and scrubbed furiously, opening the front door and dashing down the hall.

Liz chuckled and went back to her breakfast.

* * *

The test went better than expected. Felicia wasn't a terrible student. She had paid attention in most of the lectures and was actually able to hold her own against the exam. When it was finished she stepped out of the classroom and out into the sun. She didn't have another class for a few hours so she had some time to kill. Deciding that food was something that she desired, she reached into her pockets, eventually pulling out a single crumpled dollar bill.

_Okay, maybe I should sell some of my goods first._

There was a tap on her shoulder and Felicia turned to see Peter Parker grinning at her.

"Hey Felicia," He said. "Long time no see."

"Oh my god Peter, how's it going?" Felicia was actually surprised to see Peter. They hadn't seen each other in almost a year. The two quickly hugged.

"I'm doing pretty good, and yourself?"

"I'm alright, just chugging along. You know how it is." Felicia smiled. Peter was one of the few people that treated her friendly back in high school and she respected him.

Peter laughed.

"Yeah I gotcha, hey we should catch up some time, get dinner or something."

"Oh, yeah uh maybe, that would be nice." Felicia was taken aback.

_He comes out of no where and asks me out? That's a little weird._

Peter seemed to sense her uneasiness.

"Just as friends though, I mean like," Peter rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm dating Gwen and I just wanted to catch up with you and stuff…"

It was Felicia's turn to laugh.

"Okay Parker, how about tonight?"

"Tonight is perfect."

"Good," She turned to leave. "It's a date."

Peter was left standing alone with his face slowly turning a shade of red.

* * *

"Ugh, Peter Parker! Felicia he is so gross, I mean like come on!" Liz Allen was storming around in Felicia's room.

"We're just going as friends, and Peter isn't gross. He's a nice guy." Felicia defended herself, whilst looking thorough her closet. "He's dating this other girl anyways, Jenn or something."

"Gwen, her name is Gwen Stacy. She's in my Calculus class, she's alright. I don't know what she sees in Parker though. That guy needs a hair cut and I mean seriously like…" Liz continued to ramble in a nonsensical girl fashion, insulting everything about Peter Parker, all the way down to the freckles on his arms. Finally Felicia had enough.

"Why do you hate Peter so much? He hasn't ever done anything wrong in his entire life."

"You weren't there were you? When he totally crashed my party and broke Flash Thompson's arm."

"What?" Felicia had never heard this.

"Yeah, back when we were in Midtown," Liz explained, flopping on Felicia's bed. "I threw this party right, and Flash did a harmless prank on Peter and he just went ballistic. Dude's a total psycho Felicia."

"I don't think so," Felicia scoffed as she pulled out a leather jacket from her closet and shrugged it on. "I'm going, I'll see you later tonight okay?"

Felicia headed out of the room and towards the door.

"Don't get any nerd juice on you! I won't let you back in the apartment if you do!" Liz called after her.

Felicia couldn't help but smirk.

_Nerd juice? Yuck, where does she get this stuff?_

* * *

It was a small diner down the street. Felicia sat in the booth playing with the sugar packets.

_Who the hell does Parker think he is? 10 minutes late is okay. 15 minutes, fine. But 30 minutes? _

She looked at her watch again.

_5 more minutes then I'm gone._

It was at that moment that Peter stepped through the door. He caught sight of her and grinned, bouncing foolishly towards her, his sneakers squeaking loudly on the floor.

_What a dork. _She smiled.

"Hey," He said, sliding in across from her. "Sorry I'm late, there was a thing."

"You look dirty." She stated dryly.

"What?"

"Your face is covered in, what is that? Soot?"

Peter had black stains on his cheeks and forehead with drops of sweat cutting streaks down his face.

"Oh yeah, there was a… fire." He grabbed a napkin and wiped at himself, before coughing hoarsely.

"A fire, like you were in a fire?"

"Well kinda, I was uh close."

Felicia pushed her glass of water towards him and he drank greedily.

_"Dude's a total psycho Felicia." Maybe Liz was right, Peter seems a little unstable._

"So uh, what have you been up to? After high school I mean." Felicia tried to salvage the conversation from drifting into awkwardness. She felt like she owed Peter something. Like maybe he was one of the few people looking out for her, which was odd since, they hadn't had an actual conversation in over a year.

"Well you know, I started up at ESU and that's really about it. School takes up a lot of time."

"Oh yeah, tell me about it. What are you studying?"

"Mechanical Engineering," Peter motioned a waitress over. "What about you?"

"Oh uh Criminal Law right now." Felicia scratched at some chipped paint on the table.

"Hello," Said the waitress chirpily when she approached the table. "What can I get for you?"

Peter looked at Felicia and she looked up at the waitress.

"Just a coffee please, and another water." She said.

"No problem, and for you?" The waitress turned to Peter.

"I'll have the soup and I'll take a glass of water too." He said with a smile.

"Coming right up." The waitress grinned, before turning on her heel and striding off.

"So," Peter faced Felicia again."Criminal Law sounds interesting. Do you want to be a lawyer?"

"Not really, I might drop it pretty soon actually."

"Oh okay."

They were silent for a little bit and when the waitress came back with their order, Peter ate ravenously.

"Easy there Peter, no ones going to steal it from you." Felicia chuckled.

He looked up at her and his wide grin seemed rather unwarranted to Felicia's little joke.

"I'd rather not take any chances." He said dryly. Felicia sipped at her coffee and he continued talking. "So we don't really know each other that well, you should tell me about yourself Felicia."

"Uh okay," Felicia sat up straighter. "I don't really know what to tell."

"Well what about your parents?"

"My parents."

"Yeah, I mean you've never told me about them."

Felicia shifted in her seat again.

"Well my dad raised me, but he uh moved."

"Moved?"

"Well," Felicia looked into Peter's dark eyes, suddenly she trusted him. "He was arrested actually, for uh breaking and entering."

"Oh really? I'm sorry, I didn't know that."

"It's okay. It was hard at first, but now… it's okay."

Felicia had never admitted that to anyone. She had never had anyone to admit it to.

"What about your mother." Peter pressed forward.

"She died, when I was young. There was a car accident, drunk driver and all that." Felicia took a sip from her coffee a little too quickly and it scalded her tongue.

"I lost my parents too, when I was little."

Felicia had always known that Peter lived with his aunt, but this was news to her.

"How did they die?" She asked.

"Plane crash, drunk pilot and all that." Peter grinned and Felicia laughed in spite of the stupid joke.

"I'm sorry," She said, finding herself to be smiling back at him. "That must have been rough."

"It happens." He shrugged.

They talked for a long while after that. Peter told her about living with Gwen and how he was looking for a job, while Felicia remained vague about her employment. When Peter finally made motions to leave, Felicia found herself almost begging him to stay.

"I can't I really have to get home, Gwen will be worried," Peter sighed. "You should come by sometime, I think you and Gwen would get along."

"Yeah, maybe." Felicia allowed him to hold the door open for her as the left the dinner, he had paid for everything.

"I'll see you around okay."

"Okay."

They hugged one last time and Peter went on his way, slouching his shoulders and trudging down the street. Felicia watched him go and found herself smiling once again.

_I like him. He's nice and friendly, although he can be a little nosey. It wouldn't kill him to get a hair cut either._

Felicia zipped up her jacket and headed back to her apartment.

* * *

**Well here it is. This entire story will take place within the same universe as my other FanFiction "The Mask of Responsibility" and it takes place after the events of the arc titled "It's Hard to Remember". Let me know if this confuses you at all. Remember to leave comments and criticism in the reviews. Thanks for reading.**

**- Mike**


End file.
